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Zap! Card Review

It’s a bit like Shaman’s version of Backstab – 0 mana to deal 2 damage with a slight downside. In case of Rogue, you can’t target damaged minion, in this case, you get 1 point of Overload.

However, the biggest difference between those two is the context of each class. In Rogue, 0 mana cards, especially spells, get extra value. You can use them to activate combos, to draw cards from Gadgetzan Auctioneer, to buff Questing Adventurer, to gain one charge on the dormant Sherazin, Corpse Flower etc. Rogue decks are also much heavier on cycle in general.

Shaman, on the other hand, doesn’t really combo with 0 mana cards, just as he doesn’t have lots of ways to cycle through the deck. And so, dedicating a slot to a 0 mana card that doesn’t even synergize with your deck doesn’t sound great.

That said, the Overload part doesn’t have to be a downside. If a deck built around Overload mechanic would be a thing, this might actually fit right into it – like, this already combos quite nicely with Unbound Elemental on Turn 3, but that’s of course not enough.

It’s not a bad card, but I don’t really see it making a cut in your average Shaman deck. Tempo is nice, but you might run out of cards too quickly.

25 Comments

This is a really nice, solid card for Shaman to have added to its arsenal like the other new Shaman Spells. Unlike, Lightning Bolt, I do see this seeing wide play in most Shaman decks, and getting this off Hagatha’s hero power will give that minion a functional Battlecry: deal 2 damage to a minon and Overload 1, which hardly matters in the late game.

Shaman Backstab. Could fit in Aggro Shaman in Wild (power up that Tunnel Trogg while you remove the oposing 1-drop or 2-drop). Still, it eats one card slot. I wouldn’t mind getting this from randomly generated spells, though. Better than Totemic Might for sure! 3/5 stars.

I don’t know if it’s better. Obviously being able to deal damage to damaged minions is an advantage, but on your next turn you have one less mana, so that’s a disadvantage. I think both cards are on an equal power level.

I agree with the lack of card draw, but Elemental Shaman can have a few cards that genreate others : fire fly, servant of kalimos, even the 0/1 taunt frog (but i don’t think it will see play in this kind of deck). Also, the elemental chain is not needed before turn 5 (i think) so playing a 3 drop elemental at turn 4 with 1 overload from a Zap the previous turn is totally fine. Anyway, this is a backstab with no restriction on the target, which is insanely good (and zero mana is a big deal, trust me). I even predict that it will see play in almost every shaman deck.

A package doesn’t take up a card slot, though. If this was stray he’d to a minion, it would also read “discard a card”, which would really suck. For early tempo this could be pretty broken, but I would definitely run it in a maly shaman or overload shaman. 4/5

have youy seen the arena card crackling doom? cause this is that but three times as good. It is an amazing card, probably the best stand alone card EVER in Hearthstone, but I know it doesn’t look like much.